Optional Assignments


Assignment
 Date Assigned
 Date Due
 points
 topic(s)





Thermal circulations &
the 3-cell model
 Tue., Nov. 19
 Tue., Nov. 26
 0.5 pts and a green card
 read this online material
you cannot miss more than 2 pts to earn a green card
Forces and winds
 Tue., Nov. 12
 Tue., Nov. 19
 0.5
 upper level and surface winds      answers
in the northern and southern hemispheres.
Humidity problems Asst.
 Fri., Oct. 25
 Thu., Oct. 31
 0.5
 answers
In-class Asst.
Thu., Oct. 24
 Thu., Oct. 24
 0.15
 humidity variables 
Controls of temperature
 Thu., Oct. 24
 Thu., Oct. 31
 0.5
 read the online material about factors
that control regional temperature & climate  answers
In-class Asst.
 Tue., Oct. 22
 Thu., Oct. 24
 0.1
 see the end of the Tue., Oct. 22 online notes.
Upper-level charts Asst.

 Thu., Oct. 3
 Tue., Oct. 15
 0.5 & a green card
 read Pt. 1, Pt. 2, and Pt. 3 of the material
on upper level charts.  To earn the green card
you cannot miss more than 3 pts on the assignment.
Asst. #1
 Fri., Sep. 13
(copies will be available in class on Sep. 17)
 Thu., Sep. 19
 0.5
 composition of the air,       answers
mass weight density & pressure

You can download and print the assignment in Microsoft WORD format by clicking on the appropriate link above.

If you make an honest attempt at answering all the questions, you should be able to earn full credit on each assignment.  An honest effort includes having the assignment done before coming to class and turning the assignment in at the beginning of class.  It is OK to work together with other students in the class, but everyone should contribute.  You shouldn't just copy another student's work.

There will be a sufficient number of optional assignments for you to be able to earn at least 3 points extra credit by the end of the semester.  The extra credit points are added to the average grade computed prior to the final exam.

Note:   Don't be concerned if you get work back without a grade.  Only papers with less than full credit will have a grade marked on them.  Papers without a marked grade have earned full credit.  An individual assignment is generally only worth a few 1/10ths of a point of extra credit (see table above).  A paper with a grade of 4/5 really means you earned 0.4 out of 0.5 points extra credit.  1/10ths of a point extra credit may not seem like much.  But the accumulated total at the end of the semester can have a significant effect on your grade. 

Also note: The fact that you do not have any answers marked wrong does not necessarily mean you answered all the questions correctly.  Frequently the grading load requires that we only look at and grade some of the questions on the optional assignments.  You should carefully compare your answers with the answers once they appear online.